Lima · Peru
August
Mistura food festival arrives — the world's best food festival in the world's most food-obsessed city.
Worth considering
#7 of 12 months
There are better months for Lima — see the full ranking below.
See when to go instead →Climate
High
17.2°C
Low
13.8°C
Rain
1mm
Sun
2hrs/day
30-year climate normals · Open Meteo ERA5
How August scores in Lima
Weather
Below average
Value
Excellent
Crowds
Very good
Events
Outstanding
Atmosphere
Excellent
What you gain in August
- ↑Mistura (typically late August to mid-September in Lima's Parque de la Exposición or equivalent large venue) is the most important food festival in Latin America — 500,000 visitors attend over 10 days, with 200+ vendors from across Peru's extraordinary regional food geography. The festival's Gran Mercado section brings producers from every Peruvian region: Amazonian fruits and insects from Loreto, cured meats from Cajamarca, aji amarillo pastes and native potato varieties from Cusco. The central cooking demonstrations involve most of Peru's major chefs (Virgilio Martínez, Pía León, Gastón Acurio) cooking live for festival audiences. Day passes cost approximately PEN 30.
- ↑The grey Lima winter paradoxically suits the food-focused visit exceptionally well — the absence of beach temptation focuses attention on the culinary infrastructure that is the actual reason most sophisticated travellers choose Lima. Three meals a day of extraordinary Peruvian food from different cuisines (coastal ceviche, Amazonian jungle kitchens, Andean stews, Nikkei Japanese-Peruvian fusion) is the most concentrated gastronomic education available anywhere in the Americas.
- ↑August hotel prices remain affordable — the grey weather keeps leisure tourism down while the food festival creates demand only in the immediate Mistura period (book those specific days early). Overall, August is good value for the food-focused visitor who doesn't require beach conditions.
What you sacrifice
- ↓August is one of Lima's most persistently grey months (matching July at 2 sunshine hours daily) — arriving expecting any version of the summer Lima is a recipe for disappointment. The city is cool (17°C), overcast, and damp from the garúa mist. This is Lima's longest unbroken grey spell.
- ↓Mistura's enormous popularity means the festival venue and surrounding transport are overwhelmed on peak days (weekends) — arriving early in the morning (9–10am, when gates open) and leaving before the afternoon surge is the practical strategy.
How August compares to February (best month)
| Factor | August | February ★ |
|---|---|---|
| Weather | 3 | 9 |
| Value | 8 | 5 |
| Crowds | 7 | 5 |
August in other destinations
Lisbon (26.5°C)Barcelona (28.6°C)Tokyo (32.1°C)Bali (29.9°C)Santorini (26°C)Paris (24.3°C)New York (27.7°C)Marrakech (35.8°C)Amsterdam (21.4°C)Maldives (30.3°C)Rome (30.4°C)Bangkok (31.5°C)Istanbul (28°C)Vienna (25.9°C)Seoul (29°C)Dubrovnik (28.5°C)Rio de Janeiro (25.9°C)Kyoto (33.7°C)Phuket (31.3°C)Cape Town (17.2°C)Prague (26°C)Amalfi Coast (31°C)Mexico City (23°C)Medellín (29°C)Fiji (26°C)London (24°C)Sydney (18°C)Iceland (14°C)Tulum (33°C)Dubai (42°C)Singapore (32°C)Hoi An (33°C)Chiang Mai (31°C)Miami (33.3°C)Florence (31.8°C)Queenstown (9°C)Madrid (35.2°C)Porto (27°C)Edinburgh (19°C)Copenhagen (22°C)Budapest (28°C)Kraków (24°C)Tbilisi (31°C)Palawan (30°C)Hanoi (32°C)Osaka (34°C)Goa (30°C)Cusco (20°C)Buenos Aires (15°C)Mykonos (30°C)Zanzibar (26°C)Sri Lanka (30°C)Costa Rica (25°C)Cancun (32°C)Krabi (32°C)Athens (33°C)Seville (36°C)Cartagena (31°C)Siem Reap (31°C)Havana (32°C)Split (30°C)Taipei (34°C)Kuala Lumpur (32°C)Valletta (32°C)Ho Chi Minh City (32°C)Hawaii (31°C)Cappadocia (32°C)Dominican Republic (32°C)Jamaica (33°C)Tanzania (23°C)Seychelles (26°C)Nepal (27°C)Jordan (36°C)Azores (27°C)Bora Bora (26°C)Los Angeles (28.5°C)Cairo (38.2°C)Kenya (24°C)Jaipur (32.8°C)Las Vegas (40.1°C)San Francisco (18°C)Madeira (28°C)Vancouver (23.3°C)Muscat (38.5°C)Cinque Terre (29°C)Kotor (32°C)Tel Aviv (32°C)Santiago (15°C)Bogotá (19°C)Bruges (22.4°C)Penang (32.3°C)Lombok (30.4°C)Cape Verde (29.5°C)Fez (37.2°C)Kerala (29°C)Kigali (26°C)Hong Kong (31°C)Oslo (23°C)Auckland (14°C)
Climate data: 30-year normals (1991–2020) from Open Meteo ERA5 reanalysis. Scores compare months within Lima, not across destinations. Methodology →